TY - JOUR
T1 - Voluntary organizations and the provision of health services in England and France, 1917–29
AU - Doyle, Barry
N1 - Funding Information:
I would like to thank my co-investigator on the Crossing Boundaries project, Dr Rosemary Cresswell, for bringing me into the project and allowing me to compare first-aid policies and practices in this period. Dr Stephan Ramsden undertook much of the research on the Croix Rouge and St John’s Ambulance while Dr Robert Piggott dug into the Bulletin mensuel Union des femmes de France for me. Much of my earlier French research was supported by the History Research Group at the University of Huddersfield. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the brilliant historians I worked with in my time at Huddersfield, especially Dr Rob Ellis, Dr Lindsey Dodd, Dr Rebecca Gill and Professor Christine Hallett. Finally, I would like to thank Professor Melanie Oppenheimer and Dr Romain Fathi for accepting me as a contributor to “The Red Cross Movement, Voluntary Organisations and Reconstruction in Western Europe in the 20th Century” workshop and Professor Paul-Andre Rosenthal for reporting on my paper at the workshop.
Funding Information:
The research was funded by Arts and Humanitries research Council (AHRC) grant [AH/N003330/1], ‘Crossing Boundaries: The History of First Aid in Britain and France, 1909–1989, PI Rosemary Cresswell’. I benefitted from a Rockefeller Archive Center Grant in Aid November 2017 round [#421071] Bursary in 2017 to study the work of the International Health Board’s work in France and Central Europe. I also received funding from the History Research Group at the University of Huddersfield. I would like to thank my co-investigator on the Crossing Boundaries project, Dr Rosemary Cresswell, for bringing me into the project and allowing me to compare first-aid policies and practices in this period. Dr Stephan Ramsden undertook much of the research on the Croix Rouge and St John’s Ambulance while Dr Robert Piggott dug into the Bulletin mensuel Union des femmes de France for me. Much of my earlier French research was supported by the History Research Group at the University of Huddersfield. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the brilliant historians I worked with in my time at Huddersfield, especially Dr Rob Ellis, Dr Lindsey Dodd, Dr Rebecca Gill and Professor Christine Hallett. Finally, I would like to thank Professor Melanie Oppenheimer and Dr Romain Fathi for accepting me as a contributor to “The Red Cross Movement, Voluntary Organisations and Reconstruction in Western Europe in the 20th Century” workshop and Professor Paul-Andre Rosenthal for reporting on my paper at the workshop.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2023/11/1
Y1 - 2023/11/1
N2 - As the First World War came to an end, governments in the UK and France began the process of planning for reconstruction. In both cases health services emerged as key features of the post-war settlement with ambitious new Ministries of Health proposed to coordinate and deliver essential services. Public health infrastructure was at the heart of these plans, with the physical and social conditions that caused disease to be the focus of state activity. But there was also a need to take on key causes of mortality and improve the institutional infrastructure necessary to challenge old and new threats to life. Yet neither the funding nor political will existed to overhaul service provision in these areas. As a result, in both countries it was necessary for voluntary organizations to fill many of the gaps in provision expected or promised by the new state commitment to health care. To meet these tests a number of interested parties–the Rockefeller Foundation, the Red Cross, the Croix-Rouge Française, the Order of St John, voluntary hospitals and local charities–extended their work. Their contributions underpinned an extensive mixed economy of provision that ensured the reconstruction of health services in a way that met at least some of the promises of government. This article focuses on three key areas of voluntary involvement in health in post-war Britain and France: maternity and child welfare services; hospital services, especially tuberculosis provision; and accident response, in particular ambulance services. It argues that while local and national governments focused on improving health through environmental transformations, the voluntary sector stepped in to extend personal services aimed at saving individual lives, curing those suffering from specific diseases and preventing deaths through better education and care.
AB - As the First World War came to an end, governments in the UK and France began the process of planning for reconstruction. In both cases health services emerged as key features of the post-war settlement with ambitious new Ministries of Health proposed to coordinate and deliver essential services. Public health infrastructure was at the heart of these plans, with the physical and social conditions that caused disease to be the focus of state activity. But there was also a need to take on key causes of mortality and improve the institutional infrastructure necessary to challenge old and new threats to life. Yet neither the funding nor political will existed to overhaul service provision in these areas. As a result, in both countries it was necessary for voluntary organizations to fill many of the gaps in provision expected or promised by the new state commitment to health care. To meet these tests a number of interested parties–the Rockefeller Foundation, the Red Cross, the Croix-Rouge Française, the Order of St John, voluntary hospitals and local charities–extended their work. Their contributions underpinned an extensive mixed economy of provision that ensured the reconstruction of health services in a way that met at least some of the promises of government. This article focuses on three key areas of voluntary involvement in health in post-war Britain and France: maternity and child welfare services; hospital services, especially tuberculosis provision; and accident response, in particular ambulance services. It argues that while local and national governments focused on improving health through environmental transformations, the voluntary sector stepped in to extend personal services aimed at saving individual lives, curing those suffering from specific diseases and preventing deaths through better education and care.
KW - Reconstruction
KW - Hospitals
KW - Maternity Services
KW - Ambulances
KW - Voluntarism
KW - Health Services
KW - England
KW - France
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85173519062&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/13507486.2023.2247424
DO - 10.1080/13507486.2023.2247424
M3 - Article
VL - 30
SP - 791
EP - 811
JO - European Review of History/Revue Europeenne d'Histoire
JF - European Review of History/Revue Europeenne d'Histoire
SN - 1350-7486
IS - 5
ER -
